(Minghui.org) A 57-year-old woman in Shan County, Shandong Province, was sentenced to three years and two months with a 10,000-yuan fine on July 24, 2026, for her faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Wu Juan, born in December 1968, took up Falun Gong in 1996 and recovered from chronic rhinitis. She also became a more conscientious worker and was well-regarded by her colleagues at the People’s Bank of China.
After the Chinese Communist Party started persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Wu held firm to her faith and was repeatedly targeted. Her father and sister, both Falun Gong practitioners, faced frequent harassments too. Her father lived in fear and died in early 2015. Her sister was twice sent to labor camps.
Ms. Wu’s latest prison sentence stemmed from her arrest on February 4, 2026. Eight plainclothes officers led by captain Zhang Bing broke into her home at around 7:10 a.m. They spent the next four hours raiding her home, confiscating a printer, five laptops, a music player, Falun Gong books, and banknotes printed with Falun Gong messages. Her 90-year-old incapacitated mother and sister, who were there, were traumatized.
Ms. Wu was put on criminal detention at the Heze City Detention Center. Heze City oversees Shan County. Her daughter hired lawyer Shi Xingyue to represent her. He made it clear he would only enter a guilty plea for Ms. Wu.
Shi notified Ms. Wu’s daughter on July 14 that a court date was set for two days later. The younger woman worked out of town and couldn’t return to Shan County in time. So she asked her aunt (Ms. Wu’s sister) to attend the hearing on her behalf.
Ms. Wu’s sister visited Shi on July 15 and urged him to enter a not guilty plea for his client. He refused and said she was not allowed to attend the trial. He also threatened to get her arrested.
It is unclear why the family didn’t fire Shi when he refused to act in the best interest of his client.
Shi later called Ms. Wu’s daughter and said the trial on July 16 started at 2:30 p.m., not at 10 a.m. as scheduled. Since Ms. Wu’s aunt was barred from attending the trial, other details are unknown.
The Shan County Court issued a ruling on July 24, sentencing Ms. Wu to three years and two months with a 10,000-yuan fine. All the items confiscated from her home were also deemed non-returnable.
The verdict bore the signatures of the following people: presiding judge Wu Jianguo, assistant judges Xu Yanfang and Hu Zunjian, assistant to judges Yan Shuo, clerk Wu Mingjian, and prosecutor Sun Shiwei.
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